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Article by Olivia Lupia, Tennessee Conservative News –
Last week a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from placing election integrity conditions on receiving certain counterterrorism related grant funds, giving a win to Nashville and several other local governments in Texas and Ohio that filed suit.
The suit was filed on Aug. 17 in the Washington District Court by the group of local governments after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced earlier this year that local and state governments receiving grant funding through Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs designed to prepare them to respond to terrorist or other attacks would have 20% of that funding withheld until they adopted certain election reforms.
Those election-related changes would have included use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to verify citizenship for poll workers and registered voters, put higher costs on electronic voting systems, and required ballot reconciliation and manual post-election paper ballot audits.
In their suit, the local governments claimed DHS was “holding public safety funding hostage” to “coerce” them to adopt policies the Trump administration was unsuccessful in implementing in court. The suit also argued that FEMA has no authority to impose such conditions on elections, a position with which Judge Amir Ali agreed.
Ali wrote in his ruling, “Congress did not authorize the grant program to be used for the sort of election administration reforms FEMA demands here- changes that, whether sound or not as a matter of policy, are not advanced to prepare for or respond to ‘acts of terrorism.’”
Metro Nashville Law Director Tyler Yarbro said in a statement following the ruling, “Nashville knows how to run secure elections, and we don’t need Washington indirectly dictating the terms of our election policies by withholding the public safety funding our residents depend on. [This] ruling demonstrates the necessity of the checks and balances the Trump administration is actively trying to eliminate.”
Ali’s ruling vacating the election-related conditions marks another blow to the Trump administration’s attempt to implement election integrity measures ahead of the midterms next month. Last month, the Supreme Court left a lower court’s ruling in place blocking a set of rules for the U.S. Postal Service’s handling of ballots for voting by mail.
The rules, which were finalized and approved by USPS in cooperation with the administration, would have required federal ballot mail to have specific logos, unique voter barcodes, and scannable envelopes to ensure all ballots could be precisely tracked and counted.
But the courts’ decisions may not be permanent. Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence stated the rules could not be applied to the 2026 elections as officials would not have enough time to implement them for this cycle yet acknowledged “there is at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service’s statutory authority.”
That language suggests the rules could survive a future legal challenge, but for the November cycle, elections will continue as each state prescribes in their own laws and statutes.
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About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
So, taxpayer monies were wasted so the left in Nashville could cheat and still get paid…? Taxpayer money will be further spent when this bogus decision is appealed to a higher curt…? They will lose since this has elevated to a level of NATIONAL SECURITY because of suits like this! Why would NASHVILLE not want to secure it’s elections? Well, I guess it goes along with, why is there a satanic temple in Nashville…?
Yup, ““Nashville knows how to run secure elections” but VERY likely doesn’t do so.